The 2017 Orkney Council election took place on 4 May 2017 to elect members of

Orkney Islands Council The Orkney Islands Council ( gd, Comhairle Eileanan Arcaibh), is the local authority for Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes o ...

. The election used the six

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

created as a result of the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system. The Commissi ...

, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system a form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

, with 21 Councillors being elected. The

Scottish Greens The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; gd, Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Green Pairtie) are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 20 ...

contested 2 wards in Orkney for the first time. Another group; the

Orkney Manifesto Group The Orkney Manifesto Group (OMG) was a minor political party in Orkney, Scotland. The group advocated for politicisation of Orkney Islands Council, believing that party-based representation would offer more robust democratic governance than the c ...

, ran as a registered party for the first time, gaining the largest vote share of any party in the council's history. The OMG advocates the politicisation of the Orkney Islands Council, however is unaffiliated to any national party. The group has a Liberal-Left political outlook.

Election result

*The OMG councillors had been previously elected as Independents. 2017 was the first election they stood under the OMG slate.

Ward results

Kirkwall East

*2007: 4xIndependent *2012: 4xIndependent *2017: 4xIndependent *2012–2017 change: No change

Kirkwall West & Orphir

*2007: 4xIndependent *2012: 4xIndependent *2017: 3xIndependent; 1xOMG *2012–2017 change: 1 OMG gain from Independent

Stromness and South Isles

*2007: 3xIndependent *2012: 3xIndependent *2017: 3xIndependent *2012–2017 change: No change

West Mainland

*2007: 4xIndependent *2012: 4xIndependent *2017: 3xIndependent, 1xOMG *2012–2017 change: 1 OMG gain from Independent

East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray

*2007: 3xIndependent *2012: 3xIndependent *2017: 2xIndependent, 1xGreen *2012–2017 change: 1 Green gain from Independent

North Isles

*2007: 3xIndependent *2012: 3xIndependent *2017: 3xIndependent *2012–2017 change: No change

Changes since 2017 Election

*† North Isles Independent Cllr Kevin Woodbridge died on 19 April 2020 after a short illness. A by-election was held on 1 October 2020 and was won by Kevin Woodbridge's daughter, Heather Woodbridge.

By-elections since 2017

Footnotes

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2017

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2017 Scottish local elections 21st century in Orkney